Check out our list of online marketing tools to help you grow your cleaning business!
Using Online Marketing to Grow Your Cleaning Business
The outsourced cleaning market is a booming industry, generating approximately $51 billion in revenue in 2015, with office cleaning/janitorial services accounting for nearly 31% of total revenue.
Additionally, consumer demand for environmentally friendly cleaning services and products are on the rise, presenting new paths to market entry for entrepreneurs.
However, entry into and success within the commercial cleaning market is not without its challenges--high customer churn and the cost of equipment purchases representing two of the most significant barriers.
To address these challenges, cleaning business owners must maintain consistent customer growth--requiring a steady flow of qualified leads acquired through marketing efforts and reputation management.
According to a recent article published by Franchise Help;
The best franchise opportunities are likely to be in specialty cleaning services that have a greater opportunity to differentiate themselves and are less likely to face local competition (if the proper business is selected of course!).
Marketing, reputation and location are all key.
Cleaning businesses are most successful in urban or suburban locations with a higher than average level of affluence.
And according to the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association green cleaning is “a marketplace phenomenon that is being driven by customer demand and the overall trending of the broad marketplace for environmentally preferable products and services.
Why Market Your Cleaning Business Online?
One of the keys to success in any business is to make it as easy as possible for people to buy from you.
In the digital age, this requires an online presence consisting of a solid reputation, as well as a consistent message presented across several social media platforms (branding).
Why?
Because that is where your prospective customers are researching businesses, products, and services related to your industry.
However, according to a survey commissioned by GoDaddy, the majority of very small businesses (1-5 employees) don't have a website (60%)--fewer still had a Facebook page (12%).
According to the survey, the most common reasons for not having a website were:
- The business is too small (35%).
- Lack of technical expertise (21%), and;
- Too expensive (20%).
These reasons appear to be counterintuitive, given that;
Of the surveyed businesses that have websites, 83 percent said their online platforms gave them a competitive advantage over businesses without websites.
Three Tools to Grow Your Cleaning Business Online
Digital marketing does not have to be complicated or expensive, and is accessible to any business, regardless of size.
Three of the most important areas to focus on are:
- Social media presence and branding.
- Marketing automation, and;
- Online reputation monitoring and management.
The key to success is automating these processes--freeing up your time to focus on working on your business, as opposed to just in it.
Buffer
Buffer is an online/web-based tool that allows you to:
- Schedule multiple posts on several social media platforms.
- Monitor and report on the success of your social content campaigns.
- Identify and connect with social influencers, and;
- Maintain a consistent message across all of your organization's social media profiles--an important factor in business branding.
GetResponse
GetResponse is an all-in-one email marketing and marketing automation platform offering several services, including:
- The ability to conduct webinars--one of the most popular and profitable avenues for revenue generation and customer acquisition.
- Landing page creation and traffic reporting--perfect for advertising campaigns.
- Autoresponders to automate email contact based on customer behavior, and;
- A Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) to help you keep track of all of your customers and prospects in one place.
BirdEye
BirdEye is a premier online reputation monitoring and review request system that allows you to:
- Automate customer outreach through email and SMS.
- Identify customer sentiment.
- Request online reviews.
- Address negative feedback, and;
- Automate promotional offers.
References & Resources
- 10 Online Marketing Tools That’ll Accelerate Growth of a New Business
- 13 Smarter Ways to Market Your Cleaning Service
Takeaway
Maintaining a consistent, relevant online presence, as well as a positive online reputation is mandatory in today's digital age, and must be part of any successful entry into the commercial cleaning market.
A key factor that will determine the success of a digital marketing presence or campaign is the ability to cost-effectively automate the vast majority of the workload--freeing you up to focus on growing your business.
However, given the positive financial outlook for the industry, competition has become fierce, requiring cleaning business owners to elevate the quality of their online presence to compete with national and international custodial providers.
If you are a small cleaning business owner and would like to learn more about the benefits of merging your current commercial cleaning business with the Vanguard Cleaning Systems Franchise Program–contact us today!
In Bakersfield CA, call (661) 4373253
In Fresno CA, call (559) 206-1059
In Valencia CA, or Santa Clarita CA, call (661) 437-3253
